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The number of passengers going through some of Britain’s largest airports has
fallen for the first time since last winter.

The decline for October reported by the Heathrow operator BAA and covering all
six of its UK airports could be seen as a powerful unofficial indicator of
wavering economic activity — especially since the weak figures were boosted
by particularly strong traffic during the non-business-related half-term
holiday week at the end of the month.

BAA reported a 1.3 per cent year-on-year fall in passenger numbers last month
to 9.6 million. It is the first monthly fall since February and compares
with